Vegetable slicing knife



June 12, 195] E. T. ELKINGTON VEGETABLE SLICING KNIFE Filed Dec. 16,1947 2 Sheets-Sheet l Patented June 12, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE2 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in vegetable slicing knives, andmore particularly to a hand knife or kitchen knife for use in slicingvegetables and fruits to form strips of uniform thickmess.

The objects of the invention are to provide a slicing knife of thischaracter which is simple in construction, inexpensive to manufactureand easy to use; which provides a guide for exactly determining andcontrolling the dimensions of the slices cut thereby; which has a simpleunitary construction, including three cutting edges for defining threesides of a slice; and which utilizes a single cutting element having anopening therein with its edges at opposite sides of the openings offset,and a portion of the element adjacent one of said edges being slotted todefine cutting tangs which are bent from the element to span the spacebetween the offset edges and are sharpened to provide cutting edgestransverse of said space.

Other objects will be apparent from the following specification.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a face view of one embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view taken on line 2--2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view taken on line 33 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary face view of a modified embodiment of theinvention.

Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view taken on line 55 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view taken on line 66 of Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a View illustrating the form of the blank from which thecutting element in the embodiment shown in Fig. 4 is formed.

Fig. 8 is a longitudinal sectional View similar to Fig. 6 andillustrating another embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 9 is a face view of the blank used in the embodiment of theinvention illustrated in Fig. 8.

Fig. 10 is a perspective view of the knife of the type illustrated inFig, 8.

Fig. 11 is a perspective view illustrating another embodiment of theinvention.

Fig. 12 is a longitudinal sectional view taken on line l2-l2 of Fig. 13.

Fig. 13 is a transverse sectional view taken on line l3l3 of Fig. 12.

Referring to the drawings, and particularly to Figs. 1 and 3 thereofwhich illustrate one embodiment of the invention, the numeral l0designates the handle of a knife having a cylindrical neck portion !2 towhich is secured a knife blade M.

The knife blade I4 is preferably bent into arcuate cross-sectional shapethrough the major portion of its extent as best illustrated in Fig. 3,and has a pointed end portion [6. The inner end portion of the knifeblade [4 has flanges l8 projecting therefrom and fitting snugly aroundthe neck l2 of the handle Ill. The flanges l8 are secured in place by asuitable securing member 28. The blade 14 is substantially semi-circularin extentand either or both of its longitudinal marginal edges may besharpened if desired. It will be understood, however, that the blade l4may be of greater or lesser transverse extent than the semicircular formshown.

The blade M has a slit formed therein substantially centrally thereofand extending longitudinally thereof for the major portion of itslength. This slit defines the edge portion 22 which may be blunt. Theportion of the blade opposite that having the blunt edge 22 is providewith a plurality of parallel longitudinally spaced slits extending at anangle to the edge 22 and best shown in Fig. 1 as defining the edgeportions 24. The slits define triangular tabs 28 which are bentperpendicularly to the blade on a line perpendicular to the edge 22 inan inward direction, as best seen in Fig. 3. The portion of the blade 54adjacent the slits hereina'bove defined is formed in the manner bestillustrated in Figs. 2 and 3, with the portion terminating at the edge22 inwardly offset from the semi-circular overall contour of the blade,and the portion of the blade from which the tangs 2s project eitherretained within the original semi-circular contour of the blade ordisplaced outwardly slightly beyond said semicircular outline. The partsare so arranged that the off-setting of the adjacent portions of theblade defines a longitudinal slot and is less than the length of thetangs 25 so that the edges 28 of the tangs engage the edge 22 of theblade near its tip. The edges 24 of the blade end 28 of the tang arethus arranged at right angles to each other, and each of these edges issharpened.

It will be apparent that this knife may be used by causing the lefthandportion 36 thereof at its convex or outer surface to engage. thevegetable.

and thereupon to be forced in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 3 sothat the edges 24 of the blade cut the vegetable in a plane parallel tothe direction of the arrow. At the same time the cutting edges 28 of thetangs have a cutting action upon this part of the vegetable transverseof the cut-- ting action at the edges 24 so as to slice the vegetablelayer which is cut b the edge 24. Thus, with one single pass of a knifeover a vegetable, such as a potato, a plurality of slices of uniformwidth and thickness are out simultaneously and a comparatively fewpasses of the knife will completely slice the vegetable into strips ofuniform cross-section. It will be observed that as the strips are outthey engage the inner surface of the righthand portion 32 of the blade,as viewed in Fig. 3, and are thereby efiectively separated from thevegetable so that no danger of an incomplete severing of the strips fromthe vegetable occurs, The device is a simple tool, easily used, light inweight, and which is particularly well suited for cutting potatoes forFrench frying or for frying in shoe string form, for slicing carrots andother vegetables for use in salads, and for slicing other fruits andvegetables which are desired to be served or prepared for preserving ina sliced form.

A modified embodiment of the invention is illustrated in Figs. 4 to '7,inclusive, wherein the knife has a rigid body portion formed of wood orthe like of elongated form, characterized by a longi tudinal portion 42of continuous construction, here shown as rectangular, and a laterallyprojecting portion is of lesser thickness than the portion :2 anddefinin a shoulder or overhang 45 along one edge of the portionIntermediate its length the portion is completely cut away at 43 toprovide a passage th-erethrough below-the part 42.

The blade used in this form is best illustrated in Fig. '7 andconstitutes a blank of sheet metal of substantially rectangular formwhich is longitudinally notched at 59 at its center with the inner endsof the notches extending diagonally thereof. A pluralit of parallelslots 52, which are parallel to th inner edges of the cut-away portionsas and positioned therebetween, are formed in the intermediate portionof the blade. The blade is bent longitudinally on line 5 1 to de fine aportion 55 which bears against the side face of the portion all abovethe shoulder as and is secured thereto by screws or other securingmembers 58. The portion it of the blade below the bent line 5%, asillustrated in Fig. '7, bears against the shoulder 46. The narrowelongated diagonal blade portions 62 between the slots 5?. are bentalong the lines perpendicular thereto so that the edges of the bladeportions 62 extend parallel to but are inwardly offset from the bladeportion 55. At their opposite ends the blades 62 are bent along thelines 55 to position the lower terminal portion 65 of the blade blankperpendicular thereto for engagement with the bottom face of the portionii. The length of the blank is preferably greater than the length of theopening 48 so that the blade part 65 will span said opening G8 and thesecuring members 68 may fixedly secure it to the handle portion 44 onopposite sides of the opening 33. In this embodimerit of the inventionthe leadin edges of the blades 62 are sharpened and the edges iii alongthe slots 52 between the bend line 65 and the lower ends of said slots52 are likewise sharpened to provide cutting edges lengthwise of theknife. This device is used in the same manner as the Fig. 1 form, itbeing apparent that a single pass of the knife across a vegetable willcutitparallel to the direction of knife movement along. the line it onone axis and atthe leading edges of the blade 62 at a perpendicularaxisand in the same general direction. It will ,be apparent, however,that this form of the invention, where theblank is made as illustratedin Fig. 7, will entail the ill diagonal positioning of the blades 62relative to the length of the knife, as illustrated in Fig. 6. Thisnecessitates movement of the handle in a direction parallel to theplanes of the blades 62 which i approximately 45 degrees displaced fromthe longitudinal axis of the handle and therefore requires specialattention to the direction of movernent of the blades.

A similar embodiment of the invention, wherein the cutting blades arepositioned perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the device, isillustrated in Figs. 8 to 10. In this embodiment the construction of thehandle portion is the same in all respects as that shown in Figs. 4 and5 and bears the same reference numerals. The blank from which the bladeis formed is likewise rectangular and is longitudinally centrallynotched at 12 with its inner ends it extending at a diagonal ofapproximately 45 degrees. The central reduced length portion of thisblade is slotted at '35 with the ends of the slots terminating in linewith the side edges of the cut-awa portion 12. The blank just definedhas a blade portion 18 which is adapted to be secured to the upper wideportion 42 of the handle b means of securing members The blade portions82 between the slots it are bent at the ends of said slots along thelines 8 5 perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the blade and alongthe lines 36 parallel to the blade blank. This forms triangular portions88 which bear against the shoulder Ed and positions the blades 32perpendicular to the handle, as best illustrated in Fig. 8. The bottomportion 90 of the blank bears against the bottom of the reduced portionof the handle and is secured thereto by securing members 92 at oppositeends of the opening 43 in the reduced dimension portion of the handle.In this form the leading edges of the blades E32 and of the edges alongsaid slot it between the lower end thereof, as illustrated in Fig. 9,and the lower transverse bend 84 are likewise sharpened. Thu these edgesdefine longitudinal and transverse cutting edges which serve to slicethe vegetables in strips, permitting use of the knife by .movementin adirection perpendicular to its length to effect this cutting action.

Another embodiment of the invention is illustratedin Figs. 11, .12 and13, wherein at least the inner end of the handle llifl isformedofrectangular or square cross-section. The handle [-88 mounts ablade having a. portion m2 of the same width as the handle,aperpendicularly bent portion Hi l of comparatively narrow width at onelongitudinal edgeof the blade 162, and a second narrow blade ltd at itsopposite longitudinal edge. The blade may have integrally formedtherewith band parts 55 which are folded around the end ofthe handle andfixedly secured thereto by securing members lit. The blade may be oftapered or pointed form as shown.

he blade portion lt'z has an elongated opening M2 cut therein ofgenerally rectangular form having one edge thereof terminating andsubstantially coinciding with the inner face of the blade portion i9 1but preferably with its edge in serrated form. Ihe blade portion Hi l isslotted diagonally at uniformly spaced points along its length inupwardly spaced relation to the adjacent serrated edge of thecut-out H?to define tangs i it. These tangs ll l are bent transversely of theblade m2 and are of a length to span the opening H2. The leading edgesof these blade tangs lid-are sharpened and the edges I it in the bladeportion [M are also sharpened, thus pro-:

viding cutting edges disposed in perpendicular relation and respectivelytransverse and lengthwise of the blade. The handle of the tool is usedby gripping the same with the outer face of the blade portion I02positioned foremost and at a desired level relative to the thickness ofthe vegetable to be cut. A single pass of the knife in a directiontransverse of the blade thus serves to cut the vegetable into strips ofthe desired length and width.

While various preferred embodiments of the invention have beenillustrated and described herein, it will be understood that changes inthe construction may be made within the scope of the appended claimswithout departing from the spirit of the invention.

I claim:

1. A vegetable slicing knife comprising a handle and a blade ofsubstantially arcuate crosssectional shape, said blade having alongitudinal central slot formed therein, the portions of said blade onopposite sides of said slot being off-set to define a passage facingtangentially of said blade, and tangs formed integrally with the portionof said blade on one side of said slot and bent to transversely spansaid slot and positioned in parallel planes substantially perpendicularto the plane of said passage, said tangs being of triangular form andbearing against the edge of the blade at the side of said passageopposite that from which they are bent, the passage edges between saidtangs at the side from which the tangs are bent being of serrated form.

2. A vegetable slicing knife comprising a handle and a bladetransversely bent and substantially U-shaped in cross-section, saidblade having a longitudinal central slot formed therein, and tangsformed integrally with the portion of said blade on one side of saidslot and bent to transversely span said slot and positioned in parallelplanes substantially perpendicular to the plane of said passage, saidtangs bearing against the edge of the blade at the side of said passageopposite that from which they are bent, the passage edges between saidtangs at the side from which the tangs are bent being of serrated form.

EDWARD T. ELKINGTON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS OTHER REFERENCES Popular Mechanics, December 1946,page 129.

